I still enjoy the Pools series, especially Curse of the Asure Bonds, and the Gateway to the Savage Frontier. The class/race limits, female/male/racial ability scores, and multiclass restrictions all carry over from 1e, along with the spells and equipment. Coin has weight and the PCs are required to pay for training to level up. Combats can be brutal, especially in Pools where bad luck can leave your low level PCs dead, but all in all I still find the games fun. The games refer to entries in guide books for most story and dialogue, due to their age and limitations, rather than having pages of text on screen. Overall their age shows in a lot of ways but they can still be a lot of fun to play.

You could also watch a let's play or two, I'm pretty sure there was a YouTube let's play of gateway to the savage frontier. Either way they're worth a try and if they aren't for you there's always another BG2 mod to install for a new playthrough!

Having played the old gold box games since they were new, and as an avid Neverwinter Nights player (the real first one, the first graphical MMORPG, hosted on AOL, back in the early 90s), I feel like they've aged well. Last year I played through the Pools series again, and two years ago, through the Krynn series, and the Savage Frontier. I loved them then and I love those games now. I still fire up the occasional FRUA module. Tons of dialogue? No. Great graphics? No. But still the best simulation for oldschool D&D with plenty of opportunity for theater of the mind to enhance the basics.